John Forster Charlton (1915–1989), was an English traditional musician, originally from near

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, who later settled in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. He at first played fiddle, but later also took up the

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of N ...

. He was a major figure in the folk music revival during the 1950s and 1960s, and an active member of the

Northumbrian Pipers' Society The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded to promote both types of Northumbrian bagpipes – the Northumbrian smallpipes and the half-long pipes, now generally known as the Border pipes. There had been several attempts to encourage the pipes a ...

. He was a founder member of the

High Level Ranters The High Level Ranters are a Northumbrian traditional musical group founded in 1964, best known for being one of the first bands in the revival of the Northumbrian smallpipes. Name and history The name was chosen as a combination of the locat ...

, playing fiddle and smallpipes on their first record, ''Northumberland for Ever'', but he subsequently left the group. Later he played in a country dance band, ''The Borderers''. He was very active in recording

traditional musicians A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

in the area, notably

Billy Pigg Billy Pigg (1902 – 1968) was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a vice-president and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death. Life and music He was born at Dilston Park, near Corbri ...

, and he would take a portable tape recorder to sessions and festivals. Several of these recordings were used to compile the record ''Billy Pigg, the Border Minstrel'', while many more may be heard on the FARNE archive. Besides

, musicians he recorded include Joe Hutton, Diana Blackett-Ord, Richard Flemming and George Atkinson, as well as some duet recordings of himself with Colin Caisley. He also made, but did not retain, a recording of

Tom Clough Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, late in the latter's life. He was also a pipemaker, and is believed to have made the first concert-pitch Northumbrian smallpipe

chanter The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or the ...

, for

. Billy Pigg on pipes, John Doonan on piccolo and Forster Charlton on fiddle, liked to play as a trio, but smallpipes were traditionally pitched rather lower than modern concert pitch, and correcting for this, by using a very sharp reed in the smallpipes and pulling out the tuning slide of the piccolo, caused intonation problems. However it is not known whether Billy Pigg ever used this chanter regularly. He also had a great interest in other types of bagpipes. During the 1950s and 1960s, he invited prominent uilleann pipers, including the McPeakes,

Seamus Ennis Seamus may refer to: * Séamus, a male first name of Gaelic origin Film and television * Seamus (''Family Guy''), a character on the television series ''Family Guy'' * Seamus, a pigeon in '' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'' * Seamus Mc ...

and

Leo Rowsome Leo Rowsome (5 April 1903 - 20 September 1970) was the third generation of an unbroken line of uilleann pipers. He was a performer, manufacturer and teacher of the uilleann pipes throughout his life. Samuel Rowsome, Leo’s grandfather sent hi ...

, to Northumberland to play at concerts. Similarly, when the triennial International Bagpipe Festival at

Strakonice Strakonice (; german: Strakonitz) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Strakonice is made up of town parts of Strakonice I and Strakonice II, and villages of Dražejov, ...

in Southern Bohemia was founded,

Josef Režný Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

persuaded Charlton to come as a representative of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society. From 1968 until 1986, he, later with other pipers, would go to Strakonice. This connection led to some of Josef Režný's arrangements for

Dudy Variants of the bock, a type of bagpipe, were played in Central Europe in what are the modern states of Austria, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The tradition of playing the instrument endured into the 20th century, primarily in the Blata, ...

of traditional Czech music, being adapted for smallpipes. He was planning another trip to Strakonice in 1989, despite his poor health, but died before it took place. He was a prolific composer of tunes in traditional style, notably "The Rowley Burn Hornpipe". He was driving from his home in Gateshead to his brother's funeral in

Lesbury Lesbury is a small rural village in Northumberland in the north of England. It is built on the main coastal road southeast of Alnwick, on the north bank of the River Aln. Alnmouth railway station is about half a mile away. History The village ...

, in northern Northumberland, when he had a fatal road accident."'Sir' John Foster Charlton, his Cat, and a Far Away Land of Pipers", Joe Crane, ''Northumbrian Pipers' Society Magazine'', vol. 30, 2009.

Some compositions

*Coquetdale Waltz *Harry's Rant *The Hills of Home (slow march) *Jim Hall's Fancy *Gateshead Stadium (rant) *The Joy of Living (hornpipe) *The North Star (hornpipe) *Ovingham Goose Fair (march) *The Rowley Burn Hornpipe

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, Forster English fiddlers British male violinists Players of Northumbrian smallpipes Musicians from Northumberland People from Alnwick 1915 births 1989 deaths English folk musicians 20th-century violinists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians Road incident deaths in England